Power production in areas remote from conventional power sources is often desired. In addition, mobile power production is often desired during power outages, natural disasters, or in areas that are remote from conventional power and fuel sources. One option of mobile power production includes diesel-powered or gas-powered electricity generators. However, transportation of fuels for such generators may be unduly burdensome and costly when the generators are located at substantial distances from heavily traveled areas or at times immediately following a natural disaster when normal transportation routes are compromised.
One alternative to such diesel-powered or gas-powered generators includes nuclear reactors. Mobile nuclear reactors may include a monolithic reactor core or may suffer from one or more design flaws. For example, some mobile nuclear reactors comprise a monolithic reactor core that serves as cladding for fuel elements and heat pipe evaporator sections of the reactor core. However, the monolithic reactor core requires a plurality of holes formed therein to house fuel elements of the reactor core. FIG. 1A is a simplified plan view of a portion of a reactor core 100 including a monolithic structure 102. The monolithic structure 102 may be defined by a webbed structure defining a plurality of holes therein for housing fuel elements 104 and heat, pipes 106. The monolithic structure 102 may have a length greater than about 100 cm (such as about 150 cm). Due to the length of the holes and the shape of the monolithic structure, the holes are difficult to fabricate (e.g., machine).
FIG. 1B and FIG. 1C are simplified plan views of the reactor core 100 illustrating a fuel element 104 and a heat pipe 106, respectively. The fuel element 104 and the heat pipe 106 may be substantially surrounded by the monolithic structure 102. For example, the heat pipe 106 may include a heat transfer fluid directly filling and in contact with the monolithic structure 102. In other words, the heat pipe 106 may not include a pipe wall and the heat transfer fluid may be contained within the holes of the monolithic structure 102. Portions of the monolithic structure 102 between the fuel element 104 and the heat pipe 106 and between adjacent fuel elements 104 may exhibit a relatively thin wall. For example, referring to FIG. 1B, a distance D1 between the fuel elements 104 and the heat pipes 106 may be as small as about 1.0 mm and a distance D2 between adjacent fuel elements 104 may be as small as about 1.75 mm. During use and operation, the thin area may be susceptible to deformation and breaking. For example, at the operating temperatures of the reactor core, the material of the monolithic structure 102 may be susceptible to deformation or breaking.
In addition, the heat pipes 106 may be welded to an upper reflector at a boundary between the heat pipes 106 and the upper reflector. However, welding each heat pipe 106 of the reactor core may require welding hundreds to thousands of heat pipes 106 to form a seal between the heat pipes 106 and the upper reflector. A failed weld between a single heat pipe 106 and the upper reflector may result in a leak between the reactor core and the external environment, compromising the safety of the nuclear reactor.